Categories : Historical and Systematic Essays (Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy, Volume 41)

This volume addresses the subject of categories: What are they? How are they used in speaking and thinking? What role do they play in our moral deliberations? Why are there different sorts of categories? And are categories independent of our thinking and speaking, giving objective form to the world we aim to think and speak about? These and other questions concerning categories have been part of philosophy from the very beginning, and they raise foundational issues in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and other branches of philosophy. Yet pursuing answers to these questions has proven difficult, because investigations into categories push us to the very limits of what we can know. The essays in this volume, written by a mix of well-established and younger philosophers, bridge divides between historical and systematic approaches in philosophy as well divides between analytical, continental, and American traditions. They offer new interpretations of Aristotle, Confucius, Aquinas, Buridan, Kant, Pierce, Husserl, and Wittgenstein, and they challenge received views on normativity, the value of set theory, the objectivity of category schemes, and other topics. This volume, the first to offer a comprehensive examination of the subject, challenges mainstream positions on category theory. It will be of particular interest to philosophers and others concerned with how the world is divided. Contents Introduction - Michael Gorman and Jonathan J. Sanford Part I. The Aristotelian Tradition 1. Jonathan J. Sanford, Categories and Metaphysics: Aristotle’s Science of Being 2. Helen Lang, Aristotle’s Categories “Where” and “When” 3. Eleonore Stump, Aquinas’s Metaphysics: Individuation and Constitution 4. William E. McMahon, Reflections on Some Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-Century Views of the Categories 5. May Sim, Categories and Commensurability in Confucius and Aristotle: A Response to MacIntyre Part II. Modern Approaches 6. Timothy Sean Quinn, Kant: The Practical Categories 7. Carl R. Hausman, Charles Peirce’s Categories, Phenomenological and Ontological 8. Dagfinn Føllesdal, Husserl and the Categories 9. Newton Garver, Language-Games as Categories: An Aristotelian Theme in Wittgenstein’s Later Thought Part III. Normative Considerations 10. Michael Gorman, Categories and Normativity 11. David Weissman, Categorial Form Part IV. Epistemological and Metaphysical Considerations 12. Mariam Thalos, Distinction, Judgment, and Discipline 13. Robert Sokolowski, Categorial Intentions and Objects 14. Barry Smith, Carving Up Reality 15. C. Wesley Demarco, The Generation and Destruction of Categories 16. Jorge J. E. Gracia, Are Categories Invented or Discovered? A Response to Foucault Bibliography List of Contributors Author Index Subject Index Part I: the Aristotelian tradition Jonathan J. Sanford, categories and metaphysics : Aristotle's science of being Helen Lang, Aristotle's categories "where" and "when" Eleonore Stump, Aquinas's metaphysics : individuation and constitution William McMahon, reflections on some 13th- and 14th-century views of the categories May Sim, categories and commensurability in Confucius and Aristotle : a response to MacIntyre Part II: modern approaches Timothy Sean Quinn, Kant : the practical categories Carl R. Hausman, Charles Peirce's evolutionary realism as a process Philosophy Dagfinn Follesdal, Husserl and the categories Newton Garver, language-games as categories : an Aristotelian theme in Wittgenstein's later thought Part III: normative considerations Michael Gorman, categories and normativity David Weissman, categorial form Part IV: epistemological and metaphysical considerations Mariam Thalos, distinction, judgment and discipline Robert Sokolowski, categorial intentions and objects Barry Smith, carving up reality C. Wesley Demarco, the generation and destruction of categories Jorge J.E. Gracia, are categories invented or discovered? : a response to Foucault "The essays in this volume, written by a mix of well-established and younger philosophers, bridge divides between historical and systematic approaches in philosophy as well as divides between analytical, continental, and American traditions. They offer new interpretations of Aristotle, Confucius, Aquinas, Buridan, Kant, Pierce, Husserl, and Wittgenstein, and they challenge received views on normativity, the value of set theory, the objectivity of category schemes, and other topics." "This volume, the first to offer a comprehensive examination of the subject, challenges mainstream positions on category theory. It will be of particular interest to philosophers and others concerned with how the world is divided."--Jacket. This volume addresses the subject of categories - part of philosophy from the very beginning, raising foundational issues in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and other branches of philosophy. The relationship between Aristotle's Categories and his Metaphysics is a matter of some debate.